Men of War II News

Men of War II | Single-player Overview

Greetings, commanders!

We hope you enjoyed our previous devlogs about multiplayer and the graphical and technical improvements made to Men of War II. Today, we want to share some detailed info about our approach to creating the single-player part of the game and our story campaigns — to provide you with the most varied, abundant and most epic single-player content possible. And whether you enjoy it alone, or in an exciting game with your brothers in arms, that’s completely up to you - all single-player content in Men of War II, without exception, is also playable in up to 5-player co-op. But now, make yourself comfortable and dive into this intriguing new brief!

Philosophy and General Approach

Over the years of the series' existence, players have seen a lot - from large battles with different sides of the conflict to sabotage operations and epic stories of sacrifice and loss during various historical conflicts. There may be nothing left to surprise you, but we've hidden a few aces up our sleeves specifically for Men of War II, which will give you new impressions of the highly acclaimed series.

Story Campaigns

Three sides of the conflict — three massive story campaigns about ordinary people and heroes who were unlucky enough to find themselves at the epicenter of World War II. The main philosophy of the entire series has always been this: every story is personal, and all of them are about people, not just battles. Our goal is to tell as much as possible while maintaining the authenticity of the events.

Soviet Campaign "Thwarted Blitzkrieg"

This is a story of the Third Reich's invasion of the USSR and the most challenging period for the defenders on the Eastern Front. We believe that this period is not widely covered in mass culture and video games, even though it was the site of the largest tank battle in history (the Battle of Dubno-Lutsk-Brody), considering that the Soviet army was utterly demoralized and disorganized. At the same time, the Wehrmacht had complete initiative on the battlefield. The front is unstable; there is no proper communication with commanders, but there are orders, and they must be executed.

American Campaign "The Falaise Pocket"

In this campaign, we tell the story of American forces encountering desperate resistance from the Third Reich during the "Falaise Pocket" operation. A seasoned soldier, Randy Howard, does not take the newly arrived young officer Karl Young seriously, but the more they fight side by side, the more their characters and true motives are revealed.

German Campaign "On Their Own Soil"

A campaign dedicated to the last year of the desperate, already lost war of the Third Reich against the whole world. Together with Feldwebel Ludwig Mueller and his comrades-in-arms, you will have to go through the difficult path of retreat, loss, and bitterness; and even though the character has no sympathy for the regime, he inadvertently delays the "death of the gods" - the defeat of the Nazis and the end of World War II.

Historical Campaigns
In addition to the primary three story campaigns, players will have access to two dynamic historical campaigns dedicated to actual historical operations of World War II:

"Operation Bagration" is a historical Soviet campaign dedicated to the Belarusian offensive. Players will lead their battalions through forests and swamps, react to German counterattacks, defeat Army Group Center, and liberate Minsk.
"Operation Overlord" is a historical American campaign about battles for control of northern France and the subsequent liberation of Paris. You will encounter classic sabotage missions with airborne troops and an exciting "detective" mission, "Hunting the Tiger."

Each of these campaigns has its own technology tree with units from the corresponding historical period and provides access to 7 missions and more than 6 battalions. Players will receive rewards for completing missions in the form of new battalions and units for this campaign. Obtained battalions can be equipped according to your preferences and used to complete the next mission. Each mission can be completed and replayed with any open battalions, equipping them to your liking, but within the authentic historical constraints.

Additional Missions

Our team has a tradition - alongside the primary narrative campaigns, to provide players with access to additional missions reflecting various gameplay concepts and classic images of World War II, but not directly related to the primary story campaigns. During the past beta tests, you may have explored missions such as "Ambush," "Through The Snow," and "Towards Freedom," but in the full version of the game, you will also encounter "Thwarted plans," "Scorched Earth," and "False Alarm."

PvE Modes

Previously, we discussed various multiplayer modes available during the project's release. Still, it's worth noting that each mode can be finely tuned to your liking, using AI bots instead of live players. Moreover, Men of War II has a separate mode consisting of a collection of 26 customizable PVE battles. To activate it, go to the lobby, in settings select the Match setup mode called “Battalions, PVE” and under Game Mode select the “Special Battle Mode”; you will see the list of available missions in the list of “Maps.”

"Raid"

We know many players enjoy battles with AI bots, but it's much more enjoyable when these battles occur within something larger, with their own goals and tasks. For such cases, we have prepared the "Raid" mode, an entirely generated dynamic campaign consisting of 16 battles with its technology tree with all available units and 21 battalions, as well as tasks and rewards for expanding the arsenal.

“Conquest”

The "Conquest" mode introduces a unique territory conquest and control campaign style, in which you use specific types of troops (available in two main formats: Western Front, where you can choose to play as either the USA or the Third Reich, and Eastern Front, with either USSR or Third Reich). “Conquest” takes place on a strategic map, where the player (or players, as even this campaign mode can be played in co-op) and AI take turns attacking and defending the marked regions. In this mode, you not only choose the following location for battle but also have to carefully move your divisions around the map, distributing them along the front line, as their position determines where they can strike or defend next. The enemy acts similarly, attacking or defending their territories within the allotted turn.

You must capture control points, break through the front line, build defensive structures, crush enemy troops, and do everything possible to gain the upper hand in an unequal battle with the enemy. Each subordinate division (out of 16 available) is a battalion with versatile capabilities and a substantial specialization bonus. You can use all types of troops in any division, but there is also a specialization bonus for discounts and logistics (so a heavy tank division can field more heavy tanks, but fewer infantry than an infantry division, for example). The "Conquest" mode encourages playing with unfamiliar units due to its board game structure, where each cell is a new challenge. And specific units are better suited for each challenge.

Main Gameplay Enhancements and other improvements

However, all of this would be impossible without significantly improving the gameplay and graphics engine of Men of War II, which allowed us to address some critical issues in the series:

Separate reinforcements in co-op: In Men of War II co-op multiplayer, each player has their own menu with their reinforcements, unlike the previous games in the series, where there was one menu for everyone with all the resulting consequences (for example, it will no longer happen that units summoned by one player fall under the control of someone else, a random player on the team).
Enhanced AI: We have significantly improved the enemy's artificial intelligence, giving it the ability to think strategically on the battlefield, consider player behavior, and change its strategy depending on the situation. You can customize the AI’s difficulty in all PVE modes on multiplayer maps and story missions.
Improved saving and loading: We have improved the game's save and load system — now you can quickly save or load your battles, even against an AI-controlled enemy in "Conquest" mode.
Mission scaling: As we mentioned earlier, any single mission can be played cooperatively with up to four friends (meaning five players in total); and any available map will automatically adjust to the number of players in the session, scaling its size.

We hope you enjoyed the new devlog, but if you want to learn more about the "Conquest" mode, don't miss the stream with representatives of Fulqrum Publishing, which takes place today, at the usual time - 16:00 CEST (7:00 am PT). In the meantime, add the game to your wishlist to stay up to date with the latest project news, and we will see you on the battlefield on May 15, commanders!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

Men of War II Live Stream and Q&A - Tanks Only and Non-Traditional Gameplay!

Greetings, Commanders!

It's been a big week for all Men of War II fans, as we've just made the announcement that the game will launch on May 15, but we intend to make it even bigger and continue the tradition of our regular gameplay and Q&A live-streams! And we do hope you join us again this time, because oh boy, do we have things to show you...

We will ease you in by playing a bit of the new Tanks Only mode, which lets you set up a custom lobby game in which all players will only be able to call in a single category of units, and you guessed it, that's infantry... Kidding, of course; it's nothing but tanks!

As for what comes next, well... We have previously hinted at the fact that Men of War II is a game that will have something for absolutely any RTS fan to enjoy: be it single-player or multiplayer, PvP or PvE, hardcore and realistic or more casual, and enough of each type of content to keep you satisfied for a long time. But commanders, generals, friends... Maybe you feel that is not enough. Maybe... Maybe you have different tastes and cravings. Dreams and desires that are not easily fulfilled. There's no need to be ashamed; that's what the innocently called Testing Mode is here for. It's also accessible through a custom lobby, and it will let you do things the regular modes just won't. It doesn't judge and won't snitch; you can just be yourself with it and let go.

As usual, the live-stream session will happen this Friday, April 26, from 16:00 CEST (8:00 PT). We hope you will all come and join us to make the wait for May 15 fly by just a little faster!

You will be able to watch the livestream on the following channels:

You can ask any questions you wish during the live-stream on any of these platforms, but we strongly encourage you to come watch with us on Discord, as we guarantee you will be heard there.

You can also watch the recording of our previous live-streams about the Combat Sectors & Area Control Modes or about the new feature called Raids.

We have also updated our live-stream schedule and added one more session, so what you still have to look forward to before launch is:

May 3: Campaigning, but dynamically.
May 10: Mods with friends.

See you on the battlefield soon, Commanders!

If you haven't yet, wishlist and follow the game so that you don't miss any of our future announcements:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

Long awaited World War II RTS revival finally announces launch date

Men of War 2 has been in the works for several years now. Replacing the hectic FPS gunfights of games like Call of Duty 2, Hell Let Loose, or Battlefield V with the further removed viewpoint of Company of Heroes 3 or even Commandos 2, the long awaited sequel is a new take on a series whose history dates back to the mid 2000s. Now, after war forced its Ukrainian creator Best Way to relocate its studio and delay their work, Men of War 2 finally has a launch date, which is, thankfully, quite soon.

Read the rest of the story...

Men of War II Release Date Announced!

Greetings, commanders!

The day so many of you have been waiting for is here! After taking more time to further improve the technical state of Men of War II, we are ready to set the release date and announce that you will be able to take control of your armies on May 15, 2024! Fans of the franchise will notice this is the 10th anniversary of the full launch of Men of War: Assault Squad 2; we hope to make it a birthday party you will not soon forget. To that end, we have prepared a video invitation to whet your appetite:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

We will also continue talking to you about all the content Men of War II has to offer; most recently, we released a deep dive into all the multiplayer modes you will be able to enjoy and you can expect a similar overview of all the facets of single-player coming your way soon.

Another tradition we will be continuing are our live-streaming gameplay and Q&A sessions. This Friday, April 26, join us at the usual time (16:00 CEST / 8:00 PT) and on the usual channels - Discord, Steam, Youtube, Twitch, X (also known as Twitter), Facebook - for a showcase of some of the more unorthodox (but definitely fun) gameplay options of Men of War II. In the meantime, you can rewatch our sessions on Combat Sectors & Area Control Modes and the new dynamic, skirmish-like mode called Raids.

As you can see, there is still a lot to look forward to before the release (and afterwards as well) - make sure you wishlist the game to not miss any new announcements; and of course, we cordially invite you to join the official Men of War II Discord server, where you can meet and chat with other fans and members of the Best Way and Fulqrum Publishing teams!

We will see you on the battlefield soon, commanders!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II/

Men of War II | Multiplayer Overview

Greetings, commanders!

We hope you enjoyed our previous devlogs about the graphical and technical improvements made to Men of War II (if you haven't checked them out yet, you can find them here, here, and here). Today, we want to share detailed info about our approach to creating the multiplayer part of the game and our core philosophy — to provide our fans with as many possibilities and features as possible for an exciting game with their brothers in arms. But now, make yourself comfortable and dive into this intriguing new brief!

[h3]Main features and available modes:[/h3]

25 diverse maps with their terrains and biomes (snowy, desert, rural, and urban), as well as the ability to choose the time of day and weather in the lobby and much more. Each map will scale based on the number of players in one session.

Matchmaking and lobbies

Matchmaking features automatic player matching, which balances team composition based on battalion type, player rating, and ping, making sure that you will get the best possible experience from each battle from both the technical standpoint (low lag) and team balance (playing with and against commanders of similar ranking and thus skill). The only game mode available for matchmaking is the “Front Line” (see below)
In "Combined Arms" and "Classic" matchmaking, players have the option to set the preferred team size: 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3).
In “Battalions” matchmaking, the algorithm always tries to create a 5v5 game, but only if enough eligible players can be found will it start a 4v4 or even a 3v3 match.
In lobbies, players can fully customize the game to their liking, as in previous games in the series. Lobbies can be set as either private or public at the player's discretion.

We have also added many additional features for fine-tuning lobbies:

Map selection and difficulty, team size, weather and time of day, the game mode ("Front Line," "Combat," "Incursion," and others), match setup mode (“Battalions” / “Combined Arms” / “Classic” / “Mission” / “Tanks only”), ability to set the amount of required victory points, max. match duration, maximum unit level, server location (automatic, local, dedicated), battalion visibility (whether opponents from different teams can see selected battalions in the lobby or not), army alignment ("none" allows any army mix in each team, "1 team - 1 army" makes it so that a team can only consist of players with the same nation’s army, "alliance alignment" sets the match so that the Third Reich can only be by itself, but USSR and USA can team up, as they are allies), and the choice between "realistic" or "competitive" game settings.

Other changes:

Ability to check various statistics: rating points, win percentage, total number of battles, unit preferences, average performance metrics (damage/experience), and comparative rating table of all players.
Automatic reconnection and selection of the optimal host among all players.
Ability to view and share battle replays and add another player to friends or a team.
A built-in system tracks any manipulations with the game client, excluding the possibility of using cheats during multiplayer games (if any changes are attempted, the user will be kicked out due to desynchronization with the server). But this will not affect the mods in any way.

[h3]3 Match Setup Modes, each with its own matchmaking and rating[/h3]

[h3]"Battalions"[/h3]

When we first started developing the Men of War II multiplayer, we decided within the team to create something unique, capable of attracting a more comprehensive range of players while making each match different for any assembled team. Every battle is a complex scheme with multiple commanders of specific types of troops trying to coordinate as one whole to achieve a crushing victory over the enemy. Some prefer infantry frontal attacks, while others favor tanks and their crushing power or the thundering cannons of heavy artillery. Still, they all must interact closely, demonstrating their best skills in managing the units available to them.

Available game modes within "Battalions":

"Front Line" is a new strategic mode in which both sides of the conflict constantly use infantry to advance their front lines and capture enemy territory. Expect tense matches akin to a constant tug-of-war, where teamwork is paramount.
"Front Line" without defensive troops controlled by AI - the same mode as described above, but without defensive troops controlled by artificial intelligence on the edges of the map, which increases the risk of your troops being destroyed by the enemy.
"Assault Zones": Opposing sides will face off, capturing and holding strategic points on the map, thereby earning victory points.
"Combat Sectors" - the map is divided into various sectors that must be captured and defended from enemy attacks.
"Area Control" is a hybrid mode where you must capture both points and territory on the map, utilizing the front line mechanic.
"Combat" — the classic Men of War mode, showcasing a large-scale battle between two sides of the conflict. Victory goes to the team that can destroy more enemy troops while preserving its most valuable units.
"Clashing Armies" — a variant of the Front Line. The objective is the same: to capture enemy territory. However, instead of defensive AI, an endless stream of AI infantry rushes toward the front line, pushing into the other team’s territory. Whenever an AI soldier is killed, a new one spawns in the rear and rushes toward the front.
"Incursion" is an asymmetric game mode using the "Frontline" mechanic in which one team must capture several designated zones held by the opposing team. Unlike “Area Control” or “Assault Zones,” once a zone is captured, it disappears, meaning Team A is always on the attack, while Team B is always tasked with defending their zones for as long as possible.

Additional lobby options:

Ability to change the number of victory points needed to win the match.
Ability to change the match duration limit.

[h3]"Combined Arms"[/h3]

This battle mode was developed based on "Battalions." Still, unlike it, each player here will have access to one much larger regiment without limitations associated with battalions and specializations, allowing you to customize it as you see fit, choosing all the necessary units available for the nation you have selected. The most important thing in this mode is to realize the full potential of the units, as the opponent has the same level of freedom in assembling the army. Players still assemble their armies before the match, and the planning stage plays an important role.

Available game modes within "Combined Arms":

"Front Line"
"Assault Zones"
"Combat"

Additional lobby options:

Ability to change the number of victory points needed to win the match.
Ability to change the match duration limit.

[h3]"Classic" Mode[/h3]

After the first open beta test of Men of War II last year, we received numerous requests from fans of the previous games in the series asking us to bring back a more "classic" game mode, where you don't need to choose battalions, only the faction you want to play. This is similar to Combined Arms; however, there is nothing to customize before the match starts here. Once in the game, you will have all units from your nation's army available through a selection menu on the right-hand side of the screen (also, you can call in air strikes and recall troops to reserve). The "Classic" mode is our tribute to the rich heritage of the franchise, which will surely please the long-time Men of War veterans.

Available game modes within the "Classic" match setup:

"Front Line"
"Assault Zones" (with fixed unit spawn points)
"Combat"

Additional lobby options:

Ability to change the number of victory points needed to win the match.
Ability to change the match duration limit.

Unique templates for personal compositions (determines the amount of resources and types of units available in the reinforcement menu):

Battalion (100 CP, 2500 budget points).
Regiment (125 CP, 2500 budget points).
Division (150 CP, 2500 budget points).
Battalions without timers (100 CP, 2500 budget points, and without starting timers for reinforcements).
Infantry only (60 CP, 2500 budget points, and reduced unit respawn timers).
Tanks only (75 CP, 500 budget points, 300 Special points - the other templates have 150, without unit respawn timers).
No airstrikes.
No artillery.
Testing mode (no restrictions).

[h3]"Tanks Only" Mode[/h3]

We always wanted to create the most dynamic mode focused on armored vehicle management, and that's how the new "Tanks Only" mode came about. You will fight for control points with other players, but all available vehicles will have modified visibility range parameters. Users can get a completely different tank experience from this mode if they launch it in "Realism" mode. More realism means more hardcore!

[h3]"Competitive" and "Realistic" Game Settings[/h3]

During the past open beta tests of Men of War II, we carefully monitored your feedback and wishes and decided that the multiplayer mode should appeal to both hardcore enthusiasts as well as a broader audience. That's why we introduced two Game Settings options available through the lobby:

"Competitive" battle setup for a broader range of players with various informational icons in the combat interface and the display of vehicle health levels, while the overall characteristics of units are balanced regarding combat unit efficiency.
"Realistic" battle setup for more hardcore players. Additional markers and other informational elements are absent in the combat interface, and the combat characteristics of units are closer to real ones. Vehicle health bars are not displayed. In addition, vehicle destruction is now more influenced by the hit location and caliber of the shell, and it is easier to disable vehicles (and capture them) instead of destroying them completely.
We would also like to emphasize that the Competitive/Realistic game settings are completely independent from the match setup mode — meaning that in a lobby, you can play “Battalions” with Realistic settings or “Classic” with Competitive settings, for example—it is completely up to you. However, in matchmaking, “Classic” mode is paired with the Realistic setting, while “Battalions” and “Combined Arms” run with the Competitive rule set.

We truly believe that with the help of all the feedback from our awesome community during the past public playtests, we managed to create the most engaging and variable multiplayer experience in the Men of War series — and also the most accessible for any RTS fan.

However, it is worth noting that every multiplayer mode can be enjoyed without facing live players simply by choosing fully customizable bots as opponents in the lobby. We'll talk about this and other features of Men of War II in our next devlog, which will tackle the single-player experience you can look forward to in the game. For now, add the game to your wishlist to stay up to date with the latest project news, and see you on the battlefield, commanders!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1128860/Men_of_War_II